International Conferences records of the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, 1922-1999

The Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction participated in various international conferences since the 1920s through the 1990s. The Sovereign Grand Commander, Past Sovereign Grand Commander, Assistant to the Sovereign Grand Commander, and other members of the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of America attended one or more conferences mostly annually. These conferences were opportunities to visit other Supreme Councils around the world, and to host international Supreme Councils and Sovereign Grand Commanders, as well as schedule official visitations outside of the conferences. Each conference had an elected President from the host Supreme Council, whose term would end with the next conference of that type. The conference president distributed announcements of the dates and theme of the conference to Sovereign Grand Commanders and/or Supreme Councils, and requested submissions of theses and speeches to be presented at the conference. More frequently for the conferences centered on Supreme Councils of the world or region of the world, any invited Supreme Council could submit resolutions for discussion and consideration during the conference. Sovereign Grand Commanders drafted many letters and statements leading up to each conference, wrote notes to attendees during the conferences, and sent more letters after the conference, as these events were opportunities for diplomacy and mission building for the Supreme Councils. At times there were difficult discussions regarding how to approach conferences as not all Supreme Councils were in amity amongst all of the participants. These were described by the letter writers as “issues” or “situations”: the French Situation, Italian Issue, etc.

The major conferences represented in in this collection were the Conference of European Sovereign Grand Commanders, International Conference of Supreme Councils, Reunion of Sovereign Grand Commanders of the Americas, and Conference of English-Speaking Supreme Councils-in-Amity, as well as special anniversary events for Supreme Councils for countries outside of the United States. Each conference created an opportunity for the Sovereign Grand Commander, the Assistant to the Sovereign Grand Commander, and other participants from the Supreme Council to visit internationally and act as observers for the Conferences of European Sovereign Grand Commanders. The same privilege was afforded to the European Sovereign Grand Commanders that were invited to attend the Americas or English-Speaking conferences.

Alongside the conferences, various Supreme Councils published the International Bulletin of Supreme Councils, though at times the Bulletin was published by a dedicated publishing office, and paid for by contributions from Supreme Councils. Each issue contained news of international conferences that were held since the last issue, published on a quarterly to biennial basis depending on the year and publication location.